Your responses to the needs in the Houston area in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey have been overwhelming! We have seen firsthand the core values of Vineyard churches being lived out through your generous donations and compassionate service to assist Vineyard churches in assisting their communities.

On behalf of the South-Central Region and all the affected churches, thank you, so very much for coming alongside us during these difficult days. We, at Mercy Response, exist solely to work alongside Vineyard churches and communities in distress following natural disasters. We would not be able to respond without the help of the larger Vineyard family and we are grateful for your support.

At present, the work in Houston is winding down. Given the extent of the flooding, we are all very surprised at the pace at which so much has been accomplished in only seven weeks! While there is much rebuilding to do, that is not within the scope of work that we can perform.

Therefore, we will be wrapping up our operation in the area on October 21.We currently have enough teams scheduled for the next two weeks, and have begun contacting our remaining teams scheduled through November. It is difficult to cancel enthusiastic and energetic teams from coming down, but we would hate to waste anyone’s time and resources in the hope of a few more jobs coming in.

In addition to your “boots on the ground” efforts to gut and clean many homes, your financial donations have been used to fund the overall effort in the following ways:

Transport equipment and supplies from Louisiana to Texas (and back)

Set up base camp in Cypress to supply teams and supplies to mini camps in Conroe, Fort Jackson, and Sugar Land

Cover overhead for the churches that hosted Mercy Response

Cover costs of four on the ground administrators and one remote scheduler

Provided some salaries to pastors whose churches could not meet or were adversely affected financially by the storm

Provided some financial relief to churches suffering loss of income

Helped in rebuilding a portion of the Conroe Vineyard that was flooded but not covered by insurance

Assisted one pastor whose home was badly flooded but not covered by national flood insurance. We are trying to help make him whole after he receives some FEMA funds so he will not have to take out another mortgage.

Thanks again for your tremendous response! May God bless you and your churches for your faithfulness to your calling.

what is mercy response?

Mercy Response is a ministry of Vineyard Church of New Orleans, helping Vineyard churches help other Vineyard churches in our region. We do this by coordinating and managing teams of volunteers to provide labor and assistance to Vineyard church pastors and members whose homes have been damaged. We then assist church members in assisting their neighbors.

To clarify,Convoy Of Hope is Vineyard USA's Disaster Relief Partner organization, providing extensive, large-scale, first-response provision of needed supplies to affected areas. Convoy sets up distribution centers, in many cases with Vineyard churches, to get supplies to people affected by disaster. After Convoy Of Hope addresses the immediate needs of those impacted, we'll then continue in the specific work of coordinating teams to help Vineyard churches in their rebuilding efforts.